


Friends and Family Dismount

by Carbon65



Series: Newsies Drabbles and Ficlets [12]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Adulting, Dogs, Gen, Graduate School, Santa Fe, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 19:44:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15298695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carbon65/pseuds/Carbon65
Summary: The best part of building a family as an adult is that you get to choose who is part of it. Sometimes, one of the hardest parts of being an adult is figuring out how to leave and when to stay.For a prompt on Tumblr





	Friends and Family Dismount

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tuppenny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuppenny/gifts).



> Set in the same universe as [Caring for Banner](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13668150), timestamp is November.

The sound of barking echoes through the door as Jack lets him into the apartment. Banner, Kath’s little black dog, sniffs at David. She goes tearing off to the bedroom, and comes back to present him with an athletic sock in a delicate purple.

“Come in,” Jack welcomes him. “Davey, how are ya, man?”

David shrugs. “Okay. “ **I left the house today**. So, you know...”

“Thesis?” Jack asks.

Banner looks up from where she’s ripping the face off a stuffed duck and growls.

“Sorry,” Jack apologizes. “Banner don’t like the t-word. ‘Cause of Kath.”

David feels the same way.

“Yeah, it’s due in week and a half, and I’m still stuck on this model. I don’t know how to code the covariate.” David rambles a bit more. He looks over at Jack. 

Jack nods, and frowns slightly. He feels guilty. Les sometimes gets out a phone and times how long it takes him to go from plain english to incomprehensible. Les is an ass.

“What about you? Ready for Santa Fe?”

Jack nods, shrugs, scrubs his paint-covered sock against the floor. “Yeah, it’s what I’ve always wanted. An’, Kath’s there, an’ I miss’er.”

David looks up at one of his best friends. “But…?”

“But, New York’s home, and I ain’t live anywhere else.” Jack stares at his sock, like holds the secrets of the universe.

“So… **Stay**.” David suggests. “We want you here.”

“Yeah, but… Kath,” Jack repeats. “But Kath, but my best friends. But it’s only for a little bit, right?”

“Right,” David agrees. His heart sinks. 

Even though he and Jack are busy, they still manage to get together occasionally to do the same stupid shit they did in college. Mostly get together with Race, Spot, Al, and the rest of the boys to play games, eat pizza, and talk over each other about their lives. And, when the shit starts to hit the fan, they’re there in each other’s lives. David can’t imagine giving up that support network voluntarily, even if it was for his best friend and the love of his live. He’s lucky to have a supportive family, and he still can’t imagine leaving his friends.

“We’ll be back by summer,” Jack promises himself and David. “We’ll be back by summer and you’ll be done with your dumb thesis,” Banner growls again. “And have you that awesome librarian job. And, Kath’ll have finished that piece of her book and done some cool reporting about the water crisis in the west. An’ I…”

“And you’re going to end up spending way too much time in art galleries and probably come home with a million sketches and ideas for new paintings,” David continues. “And, probably, leave a string of broken teenage hearts behind you.”

“Hey, I know what I’m good at,” Jack says with a wink. “An’, being a cool teacher is one of them.”

“Being a good friend is another,” David says, earnestly. “I’ll miss you, Jack.”

“I’ll miss you too, Davey. I’ll miss you, too.”


End file.
